All-Star Lineup for ‘Music and Love’ Benefit

Ernie Andrews, Clora Bryant, Garnett Brown, O.C. Smith, James Newton, Charles Owens, Jack Sheldon and Teddy Edwards are just eight of the 60-plus jazz players scheduled to take part in “An Afternoon of Music and Love,” set for Sunday from 2-8 p.m. in the Grand Ballroom of the Proud Bird Restaurant, near LAX. The show is a benefit to defray medical expenses for trombonist Benny Powell, who lived in the Southland from 1970-80 and who is currently in a Pittsburgh, Pa. hospital, awaiting a donor kidney for a transplant operation. Powell, who played with Count Basie, the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra and Bill Berry’s L.A. Band, suffered kidney failure last year. Information: (213) 299-6582.

REMEMBERING LONG TALL DEXTER: a memorial service for saxophone great Dexter Gordon, the Los Angeles native who died last week, will be held on Sunday, 1 p.m., at the Musicians’ Union, 817 N. Vine St., Hollywood. The service, which will correspond to memorials held on Sunday in New York, Paris and Copenhagen--the three other cities the saxman called home--will include performances by saxophonists Teddy Edwards, Buddy Collette, Harold Land and Wilbur Brown, pianists Herbie Hancock and Art Hillery, drummer Billy Higgins, among many others, and remembrances by such fellow musicians as trumpeter Clora Bryant.

“We were all on Central Avenue together,” said Bryant, referring to the Los Angeles locale where jazz thrived in the ‘40s. “I wrote a poem for Dexter that I’ll read.”

Saxophonist Brown, another L.A. native who, like Gordon and fellow reed player Eric Dolphy, studied with renowned teacher Lloyd Reese, said he’d be there “just to play my respects. I knew him a little bit and he was always nice to me.”

According to Clint Rosemond, organizer of the memorial, Gordon requested that contributions in his name be made “to help the needs of people who are still here,” and Rosemond selected the Challengers Boys and Girls Club of Los Angeles as the recipient. The club is at 5029 S. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles 90037.

Information on the memorial: (213) 462-2161, 298-5777.

RIDING FOR THE NAO: A free concert and a bike-ride/contest highlight the second annual “Rhapsody on Wheels,” a benefit for the New American Orchestra to be held Sunday, 9 a.m., on the bike paths of Marina del Rey, and in that area’s Burton Chace Park. The bike rides--either 8 or 20 miles in length--include a number of stops where participants try to solve musical clues played by members of the NAO. The event, which costs $21, ends with a concert by saxman Justo Almario and an awards drawing. Prizes range from tickets to Santa Monica’s At My Place nightclub to a six-day getaway in Maui. Information: (213) 326-5894, 204-2670.

NEW ORLEANS ON THE AIR: Didn’t get to the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, held in the Big Easy over the past week? Well, no problem, just tune in “New Orleans Live,” produced by WGBH Radio (Boston) and broadcast Sunday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. on KCRW (89.9FM). According to a press release, the show isn’t just a concert broadcast, but will give listeners a sense of what the festival is really like, interweaving musical performances with historical essays and commentary by Crescent City poets and writers.

ANOTHER REPEATER: Tonight Show Orchestra drummer Ed Shaughnessy has won the 1990 Readers Poll in Modern Drummer magazine for the 4th year.

THIS TIME IT’S SONDHEIM: singers Janis Siegal and Cheryl Bentyne (both of Manhattan Transfer fame) recently joined with vocalist Lorraine Feather (of Full Swing) in recording Stephen Sondheim’s tune, “Back in Business.” The version will appear on the soundtrack of the upcoming film, “Dick Tracy,” directed by Warren Beatty and starring Beatty and Madonna, due for release on June 15.

TIMELESS SHOTS: Photographs depicting jazz greats in performance taken by William Claxton during the ‘50s and ‘60s will be on view in the Santa Monica College Photography Gallery through June 15. Included in the show are shots of Louis Armstrong, Chet Baker, Charlie Parker and Jack Sheldon, many of which appeared in Claxton’s recent book, “Jazz” (Twelve Trees Press). Claxton will be on hand at the show’s opening, tonight, 7-9 p.m. Information: (213) 452-9289.